India sees largest rise in super-rich club among BRICS: Report

Published: Wednesday, September 11, 2013, 15:25 [IST]

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New Delhi: Notwithstanding the continuing economic gloom, India has recorded the largest increase in its Ultra-High Networth Individual (HNIW) club among the BRICS nations in the last one year, with a total of 7,850 super rich people in the country, a report says.

The study focuses solely on persons with a net worth of USD 30 million and above (after accounting for shares in public and private companies, residential and investment properties, art collections, planes, cash and other assets). Moreover, India has also the highest number of female millionaires in the world as the country boasts of over 1,250 UHNW women with a combined fortune of USD 95 billion.

According to the world ultra wealth report 2013 by Wealth-X, a global wealth intelligence and prospecting company, India is home to as many as 7,850 high net worth individuals whose collective net worth is USD 935 billion. "Despite India's 1.6 percent population growth, the country added more UHNW individuals (120) than any other BRICS nations in the past 12 months," the Wealth-X report said.

BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Meanwhile, there was a decline in the number of billionaires (103 this year) over (109 last year). Further, this is also the weakest wealth-tier which did not increase its net worth in the past 12 months.

Last year the collective wealth of India's billionaires stood at USD 190 billion, while this year it has got reduced by 5.3 percent to USD 180 billion. In India, the lowest tier of the UHNW group represented by those worth USD 30 million to USD 49 million is the largest group, of the total UHNW population in the country with a combined fortune of USD 130 billion.

A city-wise analysis shows that more than 90 per cent of India's UHNW population live in top 10 cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Gurgaon and Jaipur. Mumbai and Delhi, however, dominate with more than 50 percent of the country?s UHNW population based in one of these two cities, the report said.

On the global front, the world's UHNW population reached an all-time high of 1,99,235 individuals and a combined wealth of USD 27.8 trillion during the past 12 months.

Wealth-X has identified 2,170 billionaires globally, with a total net worth of USD 6.5 trillion, equal to 23 percent of the world's UHNW total wealth. The global UHNW population continues to be dominated by men as there were 175,730 men in UHNW club as compared to 23,505 women.